A Worthy Investment
CoINVEST member Dan Kennedy, 51 years of age from Williamstown, has been working as a plumber in Victoria since 1984, having completed his apprenticeship in Greymouth, New Zealand. He worked on a variety of projects after arriving in Victoria including the Portland Smelter in 1985-1986, followed by a five year stint working on factory maintenance in West Footscray.
He established Newport Plumbing Pty Ltd in 1993, working mainly on domestic plumbing as well as solar hot water, renovations, roofing etc. Dan has worked with apprentices, but mostly conducts his business alone, using sub-contractors when needed.
Since last taking long service leave through CoINVEST in 1999, Dan had accrued 17.34 weeks of long service leave.
By taking his long service leave payment from CoINVEST as a lump sum, Dan was able to fund his dream – swimming the English Channel. On the 1st of August this year, he successfully swam the 34km distance between England and France.
Dan has trained as a marathon swimmer over the last decade; having completed the Rottnest Channel swim (20km) in Western Australia three times, Beaumaris to Williamstown (18km) on Port Phillip Bay, and the Cook Strait (26km) between the North and South Island of New Zealand. Dan began training specifically for the Channel swim two years ago, culminating in an intense training program for the three months prior to his Channel swim: seven to eight sessions per week of 30 to 35 kilometres. As the Working Director of his business, Dan had flexibility with his working hours so that he could undertake his training schedule.
A member of the Black Ice Open Water Swim Club in Brighton, Melbourne, Dan received guidance from the club’s President and Coach Albert Bardoel, a Brighton builder, who had completed the Channel swim in 2003. With eight other Channel swimmers in the club, Dan was never short on advice.
One of Dan’s biggest challenges in the lead up to the swim was bulking up, a necessary task to withstand the water’s cold temperatures. A dietician was instrumental in helping him achieve his best physical shape to stand him in good stead, with Dan managing to gain 14 kilograms.
Dan booked a pilot for his Channel swim three years in advance to secure a number one spot on the neap tide (weakest tide) of early August, 2013, when the Channel’s water temperature is at its warmest. A pilot is necessary to escort swimmers across the Channel safely, while also ensuring swimmers abide by the Channel Swimming rules and guidelines as well as plotting the course and advising where and when it is safe to swim. “I had four friends as my support crew on board the pilot boat who were vital to my success,” said Dan. “The Channel is one of the biggest shipping lanes in the world, and it was a great moment about half way through the swim when a large vessel called the ‘Dan Supporter’ sailed past!”
Setting off at 4am from Dover in England and arriving at 7.49pm at Cap Petite Blanc Nez on the coast of France, the swim took Dan 15 hours and 49 minutes to complete. The water temperature was 16-18°C – a comfortable temperature for Dan who had been training in Melbourne’s 10°C waters. During the swim, Dan had 250-300ml of carbohydrate drink every half hour, with food hourly, mostly bananas. A few days after completing the huge feat, Dan was back on the Channel – this time as part of the support crew on board the pilot boat for a friend’s Channel swim. He also swam in the Serpentine Lake in London’s Hyde Park where the Olympic 5km and 10km races were held, and travelled in France to Somme and Paris.
Dan’s trip cost approximately $12,000 including the pilot’s fee, airfares and accommodation.
“My long service leave payment from CoINVEST allowed me to pay for the whole trip, and I was able to take a month off work. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I couldn’t have done if I hadn’t lodged my service credits with CoINVEST for all those years of working in the plumbing industry,” said Dan. “I owe my wife Zoe and children Lucy and Anna big time for this leave pass!”
WHAT IS COINVEST?
CoINVEST is a public company that administers Victoria’s compulsory long service leave scheme for the construction industry. The Portable Long Service Leave Scheme was established to overcome the problem of few employees in the sector receiving long service leave because of the short-term, project-based nature of their work. Rather than each employer paying their worker’s long service leave entitlements separately, it made sense to have one central fund.
Worker’s entitlements are based on their recorded service in the construction industry regardless of how many employers they have worked for. Workers are entitled to long service leave after accruing seven years of active service in the industry. Since CoINVEST’s inception in 1976, the scheme has paid more than $750 million in long service leave claims in Victoria. As at 30 June 2013, more than 177,000 active worker and apprentices, 16,100 employers and 24,000 working sub-contractors were registered. CoINVEST is managed and operated by construction industry representatives, with an elected board.
WORK COVERED BY THE SCHEME
A construction worker is defined as a person who is directly employed to perform work within the construction industry, including trades people, foremen, labourers and apprentices. It excludes supervisors, managers and office workers or those not working ‘on the tools’. Plumbers have been covered by the scheme since CoINVEST’s inception, thus recorded service for plumbers begins from the start date of the plumber’s first employer as early as 21 December 1973. The scheme covers workers employed on commercial/industrial projects and small domestic projects such as home extensions or renovations.
Self-employed workers are also covered by CoINVEST, whether as a working subcontractor or a working director. Working subcontractors continue accruing service by making their own contributions to CoINVEST. Working directors, on behalf of their company, will provide details about their own work to CoINVEST.
TRACKING A WORKER’S EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
All construction industry employers are required to provide CoINVEST with details of their eligible construction workers every three months. Employers pay a contribution on a worker’s ordinary rate of pay based on the number of days worked. When taking long service leave, a wage is paid for by CoINVEST rather than the employer.
INTERSTATE WORK
Long service leave is portable between states and territories in Australia.
The interstate reciprocal agreement means that if workers are employed interstate, their time in the industry can still be counted towards their long service leave. They must; however, notify and register with the relevant long service leave scheme in each state/territory. When a worker wishes to apply for long service leave and has service credits in two or more states/territories, they simply apply for leave in the state/territory in which they are currently working.
To find out more about long service leave in the Victorian construction industry, contact CoINVEST by phoning 1300 COINVEST or visit www.coinvest.com.au